Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace Event Series

As we approach the 71st anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshisma and Nagasaki, Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace will be recognizing the dropping of the first nuclear bombs with a series of events. This year we will be focusing not only on the threat of nuclear weapons and the billions the US is spending to upgrade our arsenal but also on the concerns about nuclear power and the potential disaster that can occur when events like the earthquake in Japan happen.

On August 1st City Council will be issuing a proclamation calling for a reduction in spending on nuclear weapons and a redirection of spending toward human needs, while at the same time calling for a move away from nuclear power and toward renewable energy. We are also negotiating with the city to display our very powerful series of posters, “Strange Beauty” by photojournalist Takashi Morizumi, showing familiar objects from Fukushima that were contaminated by radioactive particles after the earthquake and meltdown of the nuclear reactor.

On August 5th we plan to conduct with Pittsburgh Filmmakers our annual film showing and skyping with peace activists in Japan and Guam. It was especially meaningful to have activists from Guam skyping with us last year and to hear their courageous stand to save their country from being taken over by the US military.

August 6th will be our second annual Bike Around the Bomb, starting from the tent at Schenley Plaza and biking approximately 20km, which is the circumference of the immediate impact area of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are of course a fraction of the power of our present day nuclear weapons. Last year around 30 people completed the ride and we are hoping for an even better turnout this year.

Published by NewPeople Newspaper

NewPeople is the peace and justice newspaper of Pittsburgh and the Tri-state area, and is published 11 times a year. It fills the voids left by the mainstream media reflecting the reality of progressive, alternative politics locally, nationally and globally.
As a publication of the Thomas Merton Center, the paper reports on the issues of war, poverty, racism and oppression, raising the moral questions involved in the non-violent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world. The NewPeople acts as an organizing tool and communiqué for Thomas Merton Center members and the activist community at large.
View all posts by NewPeople Newspaper